


Pa.

by kisssanitygoodbye



Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age II
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-02
Updated: 2012-11-02
Packaged: 2017-11-17 15:12:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/552938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kisssanitygoodbye/pseuds/kisssanitygoodbye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Little Hawke thinks about his father and mages and happiness and evil dragons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pa.

He is six years old. He lives in a cottage with his mother and his father. He knows that his parents love him, that they love each other, and he knows that his father is not like other fathers.

He has seen many fathers in those six years, and none of them look over their shoulder as often as his Pa does. Other fathers don’t tell their sons to run and never look back. They don’t wrap trembling arms around their children and whisper  _We’re safe now, little one_.

But none of the other fathers look as happy as Pa does. Maybe it’s because he’s a mage. Fabian is not sure about the meaning of the word, but it means that a person is special. He’s not allowed to say it, though, and he doesn’t exactly know why. It could be because of the strange men in armour, the ones with the swords on their chests, the ones that make Father nervous when they walk past him. He always takes Fabian’s hand when they’re around, but Fabian is not scared, and don’t you take people’s hands when you’re afraid? Maybe Pa is scared. But that’s silly. Pa is strong and brave, and he’s  _Pa_. Pa’s are never afraid.

But Mother is always worried when he and Pa go into the woods and pretend that they’re warriors looking for an evil dragon that has stolen the King’s treasure chest. She always hugs him a little tighter than usual when they get back from another adventure. But there’s nothing dangerous in the woods. It’s only trees and moss and songbirds and Pa and him and the evil dragon. And Pa can take on a dragon any day.

So why is it that he’s not scared of the dragon, but when the little flame suddenly appears in Fabian’s hand one day, his face looks like crumpled paper that you can’t smooth out again, no matter how hard you try? Fabian is pretty sure that dragons breathe a lot more fire than that.

They go home earlier that day, and after dinner, while Mother is washing the dishes, Pa folds his hands on the table and looks at him for a while.

Something is terribly wrong. But Fabian doesn’t understand. He has seen his father lighting fires with his bare hands, and he never looked worried doing it. So why is it bad when Fabian does it?

There’s something dark in Pa’s gaze, but he’s not angry with him. He only gets angry when Fabian runs off by himself, and he hasn’t done that in a while.

When he finally speaks, it’s only a few words.  _You’re a mage, Fabian._

And Fabian wants to smile, because this means he’s special like Pa, right? But smiling seems wrong, because the darkness hasn’t disappeared. It’s so strange. He doesn’t know any mages besides Pa, but if he is one, Fabian just knows that they must be good people. And his father is the happiest person he’s ever met. Being special must be the reason for that, right? And Fabian has always wanted to be just like him, and now he is, and why is he the only one who wants to smile?

Mages are happier than normal people, because his father is happier than normal people, and Fabian is probably too, because he rarely gets sad, so he can’t understand why Pa’s voice is so quiet, and why he can see unshed tears shimmering in the orange light of the fireplace.

And suddenly, he doesn’t want to smile anymore.


End file.
